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ERMA BOMBECK WRITERS' WORKSHOP NEWSLETTER
University of Dayton
August/September 2009
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Dear writer,
I confess. I'm behind in my reading.
I've been enjoying Bill Scheft's Everything Hurts immensely (he's speaking at the next workshop, you know), but I set it aside what I thought was briefly for And Here's the Kicker by Mike Sacks (he's not coming, lest you think it's all shameless promotion). They both knocked aside what I had been reading before that, America's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines by New York Times columnist Gail Collins (guilty, also speaking at the next workshop). I've got to get back to Gail's book because her next one is due out in October and I plan to be ready for it.
Meanwhile, I have a stack of other reading I've barely dented: Lawrence B. Fox (see below) kindly offered to send his script, which the Pennsylvania Playhouse is producing later this month. Yvonne Linton, who says Erma inspired her to write, sent electronic page proofs of the first three chapters of her first book, now in the page layout stage. And Susan Duane, a vice principal at All Saints Catholic Secondary School in Oshawa, Ontario, sent along two stories she thought would do Erma proud (my guess is she's right).
And yet all around there is concern about the viability of the written word, that it can't do what it once did in the new economic models. But what is heartening about my unread and partly read piles is that while the economic model for the writing profession may be changing, if you can make somebody laugh, they'll find a way to keep you around.
The transfer of the money between writer and reader that keeps the writer fed and housed and writing will find its equilibrium, though it will not settle in the same old ways. Dave Lieber talked about this in his talk "The Dirty Subject of Money" at the NSNC conference earlier this summer (again, see below).
But there is still an audience reading more than ever if you count pixels as well as pages.
Some housekeeping: Our workshop, April 15-17, is a bit later in the spring than usual, and registration will be a bit later in the fall than usual. I'm targeting a roughly Oct. 1 registration date as the ducks slowly waddle into line.
The September newsletter will be full of information about workshop presenters, a registration update and more. But I'll drop a few hints about our workshop faculty here, here and here. By then, I hope to be caught up on my reading.
Keep writing,
Matthew Dewald
Workshop director
Newsletter not enough? Share ideas, swap leads, get unvarnished advice and blow off some steam with fellow humor writers and Bombeck types by joining our Yahoo discussion group.
Published lately? Drop me a note at erma@udayton.edu with relevant links for the next newsletter (and do the new workshop director a favor by mentioning if you're past workshop attendee or speaker).
From Erma’s desk ...
“To me, modern education is a contradiction. ... It is like your daughter going to college and taking all your small appliances, linens, beddings, furniture, luggage, TV set, and car and then saying, 'I've got to get away from your shallow materialism.'” From If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries -- What Am I Doing in the Pits? (Fawcett, 1978)
Latest news…
'THE DIRTY SUBJECT OF MAKING MONEY'
At the National Society of Newspaper Columnists' annual convention in June, Dave Lieber had some frank advice for columnists: Change your DNA from columnist to information entrepreneur. The abridged version of his remarks is an eye-opening must-read for current and aspiring columnists.
GOVERNOR'S A BALL
Also at its annual conference, the NSNC awarded former Alaska governor Sarah Palin its annual Sitting Duck Award. "This is our way of saying thanks for the low-hanging fruit," said NSNC President and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Samantha Bennett, according to the NSNC's Web site. Former Illinois governor Rob Blagojevich was runner up.
ODE TO LAUGHTER
"YES, WE CAN" REPLACED BY "YES, WEEKEND"?
In a boring political season, a German humorist is livening up the election season with proposals to replace the federal eagle with a federal bunny and rebuild the Berlin Wall.
THE POLITICS OF 'MOMMYBLOGGING'
"It really bothers me that it’s been nearly 50 years since Erma Bombeck knocked Donna Reed off of her pedestal and still we can’t just write our normal lives without someone turning us into a target market for PR pros and misogynist pundits," writes Dawn Friedman in a review of a recent issue of Ms. Magazine on her blog "This Woman's Work."
LAKE WOBEGON CRIME BLOTTER
A not-funny item: Thieves broke into 2008 keynote speaker Garrison Keillor's bookstore, Common Good Books in St. Paul, Minn., in the midle of the night, stealing several thousand dollars.
MORE RADIO DAYS
I didn't dodge the tough questions when Funny Sundays host Nettie Hartsock interviewed me about the workshop on Blog Talk Radio.
LITHUANIAN ZOMBIES
Green Apple Books & Music in San Francisco is pitting the Kindle vs. the book in a series of amusingly low-budget videos. Round 6: Which can match wits with the Lithuanian zombies?
ANOTHER BLOG-TO-BOOK
READ FOR YOUR HEALTH
New research out of Britain says that reading lowers stress substantially more than listening to music, walking or a cup of tea.
MORE NSNC WINNERS
Last month, I overlooked two very funny NSNC winners with Bombeck ties. The "eloquently irritable" Pat Coakley took first prize in the Blog Column category of the NSNC's annual column-writing awards for her blog "Single for a Reason." Judy Gruen placed third in the online category for humor writing for her column in the Jewlarious department of Aish.com. Congratulations, Pat and Judy. Well deserved.
TWEET TWEET
We have a Twitter feed. Follow the workshop at twitter.com/ebww, and be sure to tweet your favorite humor and publications my way.
NEXT ERMA BOMBECK WRITING COMPETITION TO BE HELD IN 2010
The Washington-Centerville Public Library will hold its writer’s competition every other year to coincide with UD’s Erma Bombeck Writer’s Workshop. Past winning essays and competition details are available here.
Markets, contests and more
CHRISTIAN FAMILY HUMOR
A new Christian magazine, Thriving Family, is looking for 900-word first-person, true-life narrative humor articles. They request only full articles on spec for consideration. Payment is $250 on acceptance for first nonexclusive rights. Submit in body of e-mail to thrivingfamilysubmissions@family.org.
COLLEGE HUMOR
Editor Jean Hanff Korelitz is looking for (and, I'm told by e-mail, paying for) satirical college application essays for an upcoming anthology. Details at http://www.funniestcollegeessays.com.
MOCKING VANITY
MONTHLY HUMOR CONTEST
HumorPress.com holds monthly humor writing contests with cash prizes. Read more.
FUNNY HEADLINE CONTEST
Can you write a hilarious headline? Read more.
IS THERE A SAUCIER IN THE HOUSE?
The Chicken Soup for the Soul folks continue to look for stories. Upcoming topics and due dates include NASCAR (Aug. 31), teacher tales (Aug. 31), dieting and fitness (Sept. 30) and endurance sports (Sept. 30).
Copyright 2009, University of Dayton
